by D. K Lake
Then we both heard another roof tile hit the ground outside.
“Stay close to me,” Drew said, opening the door.
We both shuffled into the dark corridor, Drew quickly flicked his lighter on and checked both ways.
“All clear.” he said, reaching around me and pulling the door shut.
“What now?”
“We find somewhere to hide, maybe a room without a giant hole in the ceiling.”
We both froze at the sound of something banging...inside.
“What was that? Did that come from one of the rooms?”
“Looks like we're not alone in here either.”
Just perfect. We were being stalked by wolves and may possibly be surrounded by deadbies.
I followed the flame from Drew's lighter, hoping we weren't about to walk into a deadbie. We came to a dead end, the fire escape. We turned to go back and as we did, we both heard scratching at the door behind us, followed by a deep growl.
“They know we're in here.” Drew said, grabbing my sleeve and pulling me back along the corridor.
We heard a loud crash somewhere else inside, followed by distant groans, deadbie groans. But they soon stopped when we heard one of the wolves growling viciously and tearing into the deadbie.
I had sudden lost all nerve and backed into the wall with the knife in my hand, waiting for them to find us. Drew was trying all the door handles, and I heard one of the doors open.
“Alex, quickly, in here.” he said, flicking his lighter off.
Couldn't he have waited until I had reached him before he flicked the lighter off? It was so dark in here. I followed his voice and he yanked me inside a room with him.
I took a step forward and stepped straight into a bucket. I put my hands out to steady myself and knocked a bunch of mops down.
“What the hell is this?” I said barely audible.
Then I took a step back and something prodded me.
“Oww!”
“What's wrong?” Drew asked.
“Oh, only a mop up my ass. We're in a frigging broom closet!”
“Alex, shh! We're safe in here as long as they don't hear us.”
“Won't they smell us?”
“Yes, but it smells pretty funky in here already, they might not smell us.”
He was right, it wasn't anything bad-funky, it was just all cleaning products and bleach bottles giving off a strong odor.
Drew blocked the bottom of the door with dusters and rags he found on a shelf, and then we both stood like ice statues for what felt like forever. But nothing came for us. No clawing at the door, no sniffing under the door, no more howling.
We stayed silent and settled down for what I presumed was the night. There was no way either of us was leaving the closet until morning. It was too dark out there and with deadbies roaming the motel and three blood-thirsty wolves after us, it didn't seem like the most practical thing to do.
After an hour of us sitting in uncomfortable silence, I spoke first, “So I take it we're sleeping in here tonight?”
“You got a better idea?”
“No, but did you have to pick the door that led into the cleaning closet? All the beds in this place and we're stuck in this cramped closet.”
“I'm sorry, I was trying to save you from being eaten by hungry dogs-”
“Wolves!”
“Whatever, I didn't have time to check into a room, okay?”
“The smell of bleach is making me queasy.”
Three seconds later Drew thrust a bucket against my chest.
“If you're gonna puke, do it in there.”
“What if they come back? What if they're still out there? What if a deadbie knocks on the door?”
“We'll hear it before it even gets through.”
I felt around on the shelf and picked up what felt like a bar of soap.
I took the lighter from Drew, he had done such a good job with blocking under the door that nothing on the other side would see the light from the lighter.
I flicked it on and looked at the soap.
“Hot Springs Motel.” I said, looking up at Drew. “At least now we know where Anton does his weekly shopping.” I put it back on the shelf.
“We might be able to find some useful supplies in this place when it's light... seeing as we have nothing again.”
“We had nothing yesterday.” Drew said.
“Yeah, but I left my water bottle back at Anton's camp, my T-shirt...oh, and my underwear hanging up on his makeshift washing line.
Drew laughed.
“It's not funny, Drew, that guy has my underwear.”
“Yeah, he kinda did look like an underwear sniffer.”
“That's disgusting! You're disgusting!” I said, reaching out and playfully smacking his arm.
“Yeah, but it made the pretty, deadbie girl smile, though.”
Pretty? There it was again that word, pretty.
“You think I'm pretty?” I said before I could stop myself.
But he didn't reply and I felt like an idiot.
“So is that my new name? Pretty deadbie girl?” I said.
“Why? You like it?”
“I like the pretty part, maybe not the deadbie bit so much.”
I flicked the lighter off and we sat in total darkness.
“This sucks. I can't believe we're stuck in a cleaning closet. This is so boring.”
“Well, you could take a nap, you're really good at playing dead-to-the-world.”
“I can't help it if I feel tired all the time, it's the virus, I'm not usually like this, plus, I feel like crap because you just made me run across the desert for a good hour.”
“Running? More like a slow jog.”
“Shut up!” I laughed.
“I'm sure there's room on the floor if you tuck your legs in.”
“For what?”
“So you can lay down and get some sleep.” he said, taking his lighter back and nosing around the shelves.
“One problem with that idea,”
“And what's that?”
“I'm not actually tired. I'm thirsty, but not tired.”
“I'm not tired either, but maybe I can help with that other thing.” he said, pulling a bottle of vodka from a mop bucket.
“Looks like the housekeeping staff liked to party in the closet.”
“Okay, I'm thirsty but I'm not drinking vodka straight from the bottle. Last time I did that I spewed buckets and woke up in hangover hell.”
“No problem, housekeeping came prepared.” He lifted up a carton of orange juice that was hidden behind a stack of wax polish cans.
“And, wait a minute, we have cups.” I said, grabbing a stack of plastic cups off the shelf nearest me.
“I think I would have liked working here.” I said, passing him the cups.
“What's your poison?” he asked.
“Definitely not vodka. Do you think the orange will be good to drink?”
“We'll soon know if you start puking again.”
“Don't,” I smiled. “I don't need a reminder.”
“You know you upchucked on my boot.”
“What!”
He chuckled and started pouring the drinks. I pulled my legs up to give Drew some room. After one cup of OJ, I realized I was bursting for the toilet. I cursed myself for not going as soon as I had woken up back at the camp. Drew and I stuck in a closet no bigger than a standard shower cubicle with no privacy, tonight was going to be interesting.
“Drew,”
“What?”
“I need to pee.”
“Well, you know where the bucket is.”
Chapter 16
Day 14
Dodgy tummy, and loss of appetite.
I woke up with a floppy mop head in my face.
“Ugh!” I groaned and pushed the mop out of my face.
Drew was asleep with his head tipped back on a shelf, using a pile of dusters as a pillow, he had his crossbow across his lap, and our legs had somehow
got all tangled together.
I tried to pull my leg free which stirred Drew awake. He rubbed his eyes, sat up straighter, and readjusted his junk.
“I need a piss but I ain't pissin' in no bucket.”
“What time is it?” I asked.
Drew checked his pocket watch. “8.32am” he replied, standing up and I did the same.
“Do you think they're still out there?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“At least the sun's up.”
We both stuck an ear up against the door and listened carefully for any sound on the other side. We both shook our heads in unison.
“Stay behind me, and try to stay quiet.” Drew said, twisting the doorknob.
The corridor was dim and, this morning, all I could smell was dampness and mold. Most of the doors were shut and the fire escape was ajar.
Drew hurried to the end of the corridor and peeked outside, he looked back at me and shook his head. He pulled it shut and walked back to me. “Let's see what we can find, and make it quick.”
Just around the next corner, we found a pile of mutilated deadbies.
The rotting insides of the deadbies were strewn all over the carpet, the stench was so bad I had to cover my nose. Three doors down from the closet we found another housekeeping closet, this one was full of towels, and a box that had, Lost Property, written on the side in bold, black letters. In the lost property, I found a plain black tote bag which I crammed full with supplies, one towel, soap bars, odd socks, two spare T-shirts, and complimentary cookies.
On our way out we passed a closed door with trapped deadbies on the other side, banging and clawing at the door. We also found a room which had been lived in for some time with personal effects, books, cutlery, clothes, feminine hygiene products, and smokes, which made Drew smile.
We quickly left the motel after I had stocked up with supplies, and we left through the fire escape as quietly as possible. The stairs rattled on the way down and we both paused at the bottom for a few seconds to see if the wolves were around, lying in wait, but the parking lot was empty, no deadbies, and no wolves thankfully. We wandered back around the side of the motel, and right in front of the motel there was a drinks vending machine, the glass had been smashed and the machine had been ransacked, but after closer inspection, I found a bottle of water in the dispenser.
Drew checked the other two vehicles left in the parking lot, but they were more rust than anything.
Before long we were back on the road and the Hot Springs Motel was a small dot in the distance. We kept the road in view and cut across the desert and carried on walking, constantly looking behinds us. But it was extra hot today, and I was sure Anton and his wolves would be hiding in the shade, they wouldn't want to chase us through the burning sun.
We stopped at noon, I was hot and bothered, and I could feel my skin starting to burn, again. I was already burned in places on my body, now I was just adding extra pain to pain. I would have given anything for a bottle of sunscreen. We found a small, secluded spot out of view, and I sat down in the shade with my back against a rock, and tucked into the cookies.
Drew sat in front of me, scraping something off his boot.
“How do you feel today?” he asked, looking up at me.
I still had a mouthful of cookie.
“Fever? Headache? Sore neck? Nausea? Have you got anything?”
“I got my period this morning, so back off!”
“Well, I already knew that.”
“And how would you know?”
“I saw you grab those girly products and disappear into the bathroom. Are you sure you're turning into a deadbie? You don't look very sick.”
“Yeah, only because I don't tell you how I feel every two seconds. But did you forget I puked my brains out yesterday?”
“Yeah but that could have just been the heat getting to you. Do you have any other symptoms?”
“I feel weak.. but that's lack of good food, protein-”
“Lack of good food? I think I've kept you well fed.” he said, raising his crossbow at me, and firing it.
I jumped as it flew past me and hit a snake that was inches away from me.
“Ah, Drew!” I groaned, and I couldn't help but chuck the rest of my cookie at his head, he dodged my attack and jumped up to get the snake.
“Sorry, but I didn't want you naming it before I could shoot it.”
“No, snakes don't count, shoot as many as you want. I still hate them.”
“So anything else?”
“I dunno, I feel crappy, no energy, I could hardly fight off a deadbie yesterday, stumbling around in the dirt.”
“You said you tripped.”
“I did, but I could hardly hold the branch up it felt so heavy. I'm so tired, Drew, it's like, a weird case of the flu, my arms feel like jello and I don't think my legs will carry me much further. I'm getting weaker every day, it's only a matter of time before I can't go any further.”
“We still have quite a way to travel, so rest up for a bit while I fetch the firewood.”
I did offer Drew a packet of cookies but he refused and went off to collect firewood for his snake. After a quick lunch, I insisted we start walking again. I still had hope Lane and Josh would be waiting for us in Colorado... a silly idea but it gave me hope to keep going.
My walking had slowed down by late afternoon, I was dawdling but we had put enough distance between us and Anton's camp that Drew felt okay about wandering off and leaving me again so he could scale the rocky hills to see what was in the distance.
Drew was still gone, God-knows-where, and I was walking at a comfortable pace but soon slowed down when I saw a bathtub up ahead.
A bathtub???
I crunched over the rocks and made my way to the bathtub, but just before I got there someone called me, “Alex!” Drew called, and I looked up to see Drew standing on top of a rock to my right.
At first, I thought there was something wrong by the way he had called me, but then he grinned at me.
“What is it?”
“C'mon, I wanna show you somethin'”
“What?” I said, I wasn't the least bit interested in whatever it was he wanted to show me.
I was too hot and I didn't want to walk in a different direction for no reason.
“Drew! What is it?”
“Just hurry up!” he called back.
I picked up my pace and made my way over to the rock and climbed up the side. Drew was waiting for me at the top.
“There better be a good reason as to why you made me climb up here? And why are there bathtubs in the middle of the desert?” I asked, hoping he could explain it to me.
But all he said was, “This way.”
Drew led the way, and I followed him up the side of another rock which led onto a ridge along the rock wall. It wasn't too high off the ground but if I was to fall I would most likely break something. The further we walked the smaller the ridge became, and I was grabbing whatever pieces of jagged rock sticking out of the wall I could.
“Uh, Drew, where exactly are you taking me?”
“You'll see.” he said, looking over his shoulder to check I was okay.
“So while I've been down there, you've been up here, rock climbing?”
I looked across the desert and could see where I had been walking just five minutes ago, little did I know Drew was up here, I didn't even see him climbing around the rocks, like some nifty ninja.
“Exploring.” Drew said.
“Fine, while I've been down there you've been up here exploring. So what exactly is it you want to show me? At this rate, the only thing I'm going to see is the ground below as I fall to my death.”
Drew laughed, “We're nearly there.”
“Where?”
“Oh, here it is!” Drew said, and a second later he disappeared into the wall.
I carefully moved closer and realized he had gone through a hole in the wall. I stood at the entrance, holding onto the cliff wall (I
think clinging to it would have been the better word to use). The archway was as tall as me and the inside was dark... and I mean dark.
“Drew?” I whispered into the darkness.
“Present.” Drew joked, flicking on his lighter, but even with the glow from the lighter it didn't make the hole any less creepy.
“Funny,” I said, stepping inside.
I didn't really want to step into the scary-looking, dark hole, but it was safer in here than it was standing on the ledge outside. At least, I hope it was safer in here.
“A cave? You wanted to show me a creepy, dark cave. You made me climb all the way up here to show me a cave? Are you for real?”
“What? You don't like the cave?” Drew chuckled and it echoed all around us.
“No, Drew, I don't like the cave. Now I have to climb all the way back down without falling or tripping over the edge, and knowing my coordination skills just recently the odds of me getting back down safely are nonexistent.”
We both stood inside the entrance way and he moved his lighter around and I could see we were inside a tunnel because, if I looked carefully I could just about see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“What's down there?”
“Oh, now she's interested.”
“Well, you did bring me all the way up here, you might as well tell me what's down there.”
“That's what I wanted to show you.”
“So not the cave?”
“No, not the cave, something better.”
Drew started moving along the tunnel and I reluctantly followed him.
“Is it even safe in here?” I whispered.
“Yes, and you don't have to whisper. There's nothing else here, just us.”
“I can't believe you even considered coming in here. There could be anything lurking in the dark shadows.”
I reached out and touched the bare rock walls, the tunnel was so small I could even reach up and touch the roof. Drew was walking at an angle as he was taller than me.
“I got bored waiting for you, and there isn't anything lurking anywhere in here.”
As we got closer to the end I could see the hole at the end was more like the entrance way, a tall archway in the rock. He flicked his lighter off and ducked out through the tunnel and into the light.
I was about to say something but lost all words when I stepped out of the tunnel and into a cave-like oasis.
